Covered in bees

So, I hadn't really done anything interesting in about two weeks. I had to go out of town for a weekend, and on returning, I lent my roommate part of my macro rig for about a week. Then Boston started breaking all kinds of heat records... I know, it's no excuse. I hope you can forgive me, just this once at least. In penance, I offer up some new bee images.



One thing I really like is the effect you get when you shoot through the leaf or flower. Especially when you have something nice and neutral, like the grains of pollen on the back of the bee, to go and set your white balance to in post. The brilliant glowing effect is, I think, pretty striking.



This is a good example of where I think a TTL flash with low power settings would work better than my 1/16th-and-hope Vivitar. The flower still has detail, but not as much as I'd like. I could fix this in post, but I prefer chanting 'get it right in-camera' to justify a fancy upgrade I can't afford.



This is similar to a shot I took last month of a carpenter bee entering a hollyhock flower, but I absolutely love the eye peeking out from under that thick carpet of pollen. Worth mentioning is that this bee (an entirely black species I don't recognize) buzzed my face right after I took this photo. Not as mellow as most bees around here...

And, a tip I discovered on this photowalk: wear long pants when shooting bees, lest they be inclined to fly up your shorts and cause you much distress before they leave.